The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Shamkhani, recently visited Baghdad, where he met with top officials including Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’ Al-Sudani. The trip particularly gained attention as it followed Shamkhani’s secret negotiations with Saudi officials in China, where the two sides on Mar. 10 announced that they had agreed to resume diplomatic relations.

The accord in Beijing notably came in the wake of five rounds of talks between Iranian and Saudi delegations in Baghdad between 2021 and 2022. Another dimension to Shamkhani’s visit to Iraq was his trip to the United Arab Emirates after the China talks, indicating that he has been tasked with leading Iran’s engagement with Arab regional states.

Intentional obfuscation?

During the Mar. 19 visit to Baghdad, Shamkhani signed a security agreement with his Iraqi counterpart, National Security Advisor Qasim Al-Araji, overseen by Sudani. A statement published by the Iraqi prime minister’s office later noted that the agreement addresses “coordination to [jointly] protect the...